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REPORT 



SOLrCITOR AND COMPTROLLERS 



TRE AS r R 1\ 



UPON THK CASE OF 



CtlAlil^S]^ F. 8IBBAIiD^ 



OF PHJLADELI'fUA. 



REMARKS OF THE CLAIMANT, 

Made prior tn said Report, 



NOTES THEREON SUBSEQUENT THERETO. 



PHILADELPHIA. 
1839. 






.355(0 






PREFATORY REMARKS. 



THE undersigned Claimant has, in the various stages of his case, 
written and published numerous staiements wliich have been neces- 
sary, exhibiting the gnuiiuls which support his claim for damages or 
» indemnity against the Governinent of the United Stales, in destroying 
his entire business, stopping the operation of his saw mills, erected 
on his lands in Florida, and depriving him of the use, possession, 
^^ control and occupation of his lands and mills in that Territory, — and 
H> thus causing his commercial destruction in the year 1830, after he 
^ had disbursed upwards of $100,000 on property, which the Supreme 
Court has decreed, against the United Stafcs, to have been his in 
; the year 1816, under a legal title derived from the Government of 
£ Spain. 

i In submitting the Report of the Solicitor and Comptrollers of the 
Treasury, the undersigned begs reference also to a statement prepared 
by himseK several months prior to theirs being submitted to Congress, 
and which is hereunto annexed. No action of Congress whatever 
has taken place on the Report, in consequence of its having been 
submitted only the day previous to the adjournment on the 3rd qf 
March last. The facts submitted by those officers of the Treasury 
Department, going to establish as they do the entire allegations made 
in support of the claim of the undersigned, he has only to regret that 
more particular reference had not been made to the evidence, and 
saved the very unpleasant duty and task, devolving upon him, of add- 
ing notes of facts, which have been omitted by them: assured as he 
is that they themselves would have as willingly corrected these omis- 
sions, some of which having an important bearing on the subject 
matter, as they did in inserting, at his requst, many others which he 
had conceived equally important, that he had observed in a hasty 
perusal of their Report just as it was about to be submitted to Con- 
gress. 

It was the result of that perusal of this Report, also, that (instantly) 
led the undersigned to call the attention of the Solicitor and Comp 



i 

trollers to tlu- facts, ns annexed \)\ llu ;n luuler liis signature, wliii-li 
he considered constituted and e:sial)i!r!hed liis claim, not only equiiablc 
for a *^ portion of his dcnland,"' (r, rc:)Orlc;\ but a iegal claim for 
his entire demand, established by tJie facts, supported by the most 
unquestionable testimony, and embrnct-d under the law of damages. 

It would be, perhaps, considered presumptuous in an individual to 
advance such an opinion as this, in contrariety to the views of otiiers, 
had he not the opinions of some of the most eminer.t, distinguished 
legal advisers in this country to support him. Of these legal advisers, 
it is considered sufHcienl to e.\hil)lt llie opinions given liy the late 
Attorney General of the United States, .fudge Berrian, and that of the 
Hon. George M. Dallas, — which, in their views as expressed, added 
to those of other gentlemen of the liar, render this a clear legal, as 
well as an equitable clairn. 

The testimony in this case, embraces in all perliaps nearly a thou- 
sand pages; three or four hundred of these have been printed by the 
undersigned — decisions of the Supreme Court have been exhibited — 
legal decisions in other cases, as prttcedents, have been given — claims 
made by this agai;;st other Governments have been shown — principles 
developed and conceded in other similar cases in ('ongress have been 
produced, exhibiting the opinion of Congress of the liability of the 
Government for acts of its officers, all of which tend directly to sup- 
port this claim. In this case the injury is proved to be by the im- 
mediate and positive orders of the Government. The Solicitor and 
Comptrollers have given no law or reason (after exhibiting facts to 
establish the claim) in coming to conclusions of its being " equitable" 
and not legal. 

The charge of Judge Harrington to the jury in the case of Randall 
vs. the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company appears so appro- 
priate to this claim, that although it is given elsewhere by the Claim- 
ant — it may be important to exhibit it here. 

" It embraces, says the Judge, inquiry into legal rights growing 
** out of contract, — into alleged wrong, — for the violation of those 
" rights, — damage and loss, resulting from such wrongs, and com- 
" pensation therefor. The jury are bound to make the Plaintiff 
" whole — to weigh out to him as it were from the scales of justice 
" remuneration and compensation for his wrongs." 

" The only guide the court can give you on this subject, is the legal 
*' rule, — that whatever loss or damage naturally or immediately re- 
*' suits from the wrong complained of — the wrong doer is bound to 
•* compensate." Harrington's Reports, 1 vol. p. 307-316. 



The lands were certainly in the case of the Claimant legal vested 
rights. The Treaty that protected those rights was a contract sacredly 
made between two nations. And the Government of the United States 
was tlie violator of those rights — the ivrong doer which is bound to 
compensate. 

Various decisions of the Supreme Court have been annexed to the 
documents of the undersigned — this is high and binding authority. — 
The Supreme Court said in Strother vs. Lucas, (12 Pet. 439. J "Trea- 
" ties are tlie law of the land and a rule of decision of all courts, — 
" Their stipidations are binding on the United States'—in that of 
" 1819 (the Florida Treaty) there is a present confirmation of all 
" grants made before the 24th of January, 1818, with the exception 
" of three, (to the three Spanish noblemen.) If the United States 
" were not content to receive the Territory charged with the titles 
" thus created, they ought lo have made and they would have made 
" such exceptions as they deemed necessary — ihey have made these 
" exceptions — they have stipulated that all grants made since the 24th 
" January, 1818, shall be null and void. The American Government 
" was content with the security which this stipulation afforded, and 
" cannot now demand farther and additional grounds — all other con- 
" cessions made by his Catholic majesty or his lawful authorities, 
" in the ceded Territories are as valid as if the cession had not been 
" made." 

" By the Treaty of 180.3, there was a stipulation, inter alia, that 
" the inhabitants of the ceded Territory shall be maintained and pro- 
" tected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and the re- 
*' ligion they profess — as to which, this is the language of this court, — 

" That the perfect inviolability and security of property is among 
" these rights, all -will assert and maintain." 9 Pet. 133. S. P. 10 
Pet. 718. 732. 736. 

" A cession of a Territory is never understood to be a cession of 
" the property of its inhabitants. I'he king cedes only that which 
" belongs to him. Lands he had previously granted were not his to 
" cede — neither party could so understand the treaty — neither party 
" could consider itself as attempting a wrong that would be condemn- 
" ed by the whole civilized world." Pet. 12. 439. 

Mr. Rawle, in his work on the Constitution, says, the legal effect 
of a Treaty, constitutionally made, is that next to the Constitution 
itself. It prevails over all state laws and state constitutions, and acts 
of Congress. This is expressed in the following words: " The Con-. 
** stittition, and lau\s of the United States wliich shall be made in 



* pursuance thereof, and all trealies made or which shall be made 
" under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law 
" of the land, and the Judges in every state shall be bound thereby^ 
'* anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary 
"notwithstanding." Mr. Rawle says, "What Judge of the state 
" court would willingly attempt the establishment of a rule ofproper- 
" ty, or of evidence differing from or opposed to that which had been 
" settled by solemn adjudication of the Supreme Court of the United 
" States, a tribunal composed of men of the highest judicial eminence 
" in the nation." 

It is this tribunal that declared the rights of the Claimant perfect to 
16,000 acres of land in Florida, under the laws of Spain, the United 
States, the laws of nations, and the treaty existing with Spain for the 
cession of Florida. It is in this decision, — to that Court, — to that 
solemn treaty, — to the constitution and laws of the country and Con- 
gress, that this Claimant asks, looks for, and expects protection and 
indemnity, for his violated rights, — his sufferings and his losses — 
and submits this Report to substantiate the facts, which have been al- 
leged by him for these aggressions, and begs to tender the entire evi- 
dence in the case to any one who may desire its perusal. 

CHARLES F. SIBBALD. 

Philadelphia, April 17, 1839. 



?5th Congress, DoC. No. 248. Ho. of Rkps, 

'id Session. 



CHARLES F. SIBBALD. 



REPORT 

OP 

THE SOLICITOR, FIRST COMPTROLLER, & SECOND COMPTROLLER 
OF THE TREASURY, 

Upon the Case of Charles F. Sihbald. 



March 2, 1839. 

Read, and laid upon the table 



Treasury Department, March 1, 1839,. 
Sir, — We have the honor to transmit, herewith, a report in the case 
of Charles F. Sibbald, made in compliance with the resolution of the 
Honse of Representatives of the 2d July, 1838, transmitting to the 
Solicitor and First and Second Comptrollers of the Treasury the 
pajiers in the case, and directing them to examine and report the facts, 
with the law that arises thereon, with their opinion whether relief 
should be granted, and, if so, the measure of it. 

These papers are also herewith transmitted. They consist of two 
parcels: one containing miscellaneous letters and documents laid before 
the Committee of Claims; the other, containing the depositions, docu- 
ments, and other evidence taken under the resolution of the House of 
Representatives of 3d March, 1837, and transmitted to the House on 
7th February, 1838. 

We also transmit, herewith, additional documentary evidence sub- 
mined to us by Mr. Sibbald. It was received at his request, in the 
progress of the examination, and since the meeting of Congress 
which prevented the presentation of this report an earlier period of 
the session. Very respectfully, yours, 

H. D. GILPIN, 
Solicitor of the Treasuri/. 
J. N. BARKER, 
First Comptroller of the Treasury^ 
ALBION K. PARRIS, 
Second Comptroller of the Treasvrv 
Hon. J. K. Polk, '^ 

Speaker of the House of Representatives,. 



8 Dot. No. 248. 

Report on the Case of Charles F. Sibbald, referred to the Solicitor 
and First and Second Comptrollers of the Treasiny, by a resolu' 
tion of the House of Representatives of the 2d July, 1838, ivith 
instructions to examine and report the facts, with the law that 
arises thereon, and their opinion whether relief should be granted, 
and, if so, the measure of it. 

This Claim is brought to the notice of Congress by a petition pre- 
sented in February, 1836, seeking indemnity for heavy damages sus- 
tained by Mr, Sibbald, as he alleges, by unauthorized aggressions on 
his property and rights, committed by agents of the United States, for 
whose acts they are responsible, upon principles of equity and justice. 

Mr. Sibbald is, as he states in his memorial, a native of Pliiladel- 
pliia, but removed at an early age to East Florida, where he became 
domiciled. In the year 1816 he obtained from the Spanish Govern- 
ment a grant of 16,000 acres of land, on the express condition of im- 
proving them by the erection of saw mills; and, having complied with 
the conditions required of him whilst that Territory remained attached 
to the Crown of Spain, the lands thus granted became his property; 
and he used and enjoyed them as such, without hindrance or molesta- 
tion. The Supreme Court of the United States, at its session in 1836, 
confirmed his title to the lands. Being prevented from disposing of 
them, as he alleges, previous to this, by the judicial scrutiny and in- 
vestigation which was going on with respect to them by the Govern- 
ment of the United States, in its different departments, he returned to 
Philadelphia, from whence he was influenced to continue to improve 
tlie lands, after the cession of the Floridas to the Government of the 
United States, under the firm conviction tliat, whenever an adjudication 
of the Supreme Court should be obtained, it would result (as it did) in 
his favor. In these improvements, as he states, he disbursed upwards 
of $100,000 in the erection of steam mills on his premises, (one of 
which mills worked 48 saws;) he had made arrangements for a most 
extensive business there; and his mills were placed in complete and 
successful operation. 

He goes on to say thot the Government of the United States, in 
1828, sent an agent to Florida, who prevented him from using his own 
timber to supply the mills, (erected at such enormous expense,) or for 
other purposes. His vessels were detained, his mills had to be aban- 
doned, his whole business prostrated, and he was thus caused inde- 
scribable difficuhies and a most serious loss. Repeated remonstrances 
were made, as he alleges, to the Government and its agents, against 
these illegal measures, based on the opinions of several of the most 
eminent prolessional gentlemen of the nation. He further states that 
these difficulties continued to exist, and he was conpelled to submk 
to them, until the decision was made in the Supreme Court, conclu- 
sively proving that his rights had been infringed. He stated to Con- 
gress that he was prepared to substantiate the facts by satisfactory 
evidence, and to furnish indisputable proof of the losses to which he 
was subjected. 

Several affidavits, and much documentary testimony, consisting of 
letters, opinions of counsel, extracts from judicial decisions, and other 



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